People change the pitch of their voice depending on who they are speaking to- Study

People are selective. They change their pitch of voice according to the person who they are talking to. It also reflects how dominant they are. A recent study has established link between a person’s pitch and dominance. The study was published in Journal PLOS ONE, where the participants are subjected to a stimulated job interview task, their vocal characteristics, especially pitch were altered in response to people of different status. Men and woman used a higher pitch with people who they think are dominant, respected and have higher social stature.

A deep masculine voice signifies dominance in men; the opposite is true of a higher pitched voice. If someone sees its interviewer more dominant than them, they raise their pitch.

"This may be a signal of submissiveness, to show the listener that you are not a threat, and to avoid possible confrontations," Mileva added.

Participants who they think are dominant, which means who use tactics like manipulation, coercion and intimidation to acquire a social stature, are less prone to change their pitch and will talk in a lower tone when talking to someone of higher status. Oppositely, people who see themselves high in prestige, who think that people value them and their opinions, don’t change their loud tone, no matter who they are speaking to. This may signal that they are calmer and in control of a situation, the researchers said.

"These changes in our speech may be conscious or unconscious but voice characteristics appear to be an important way to communicate social status," Mileva added.

Thus, when you see a person changing his or her pitch in front of someone, you can smell the dominance there.